Jordan Kovacs and Brandon Herron

Kovacs and Herron are in serious mode.

What did you think about the two TDs you scored? Herron: "For one, I want to thank God -- Jesus Christ my lord and savior -- and I also want to thank my team. This is a team effort, this is about a team, and I thank a lot of my teammates because we all work together as one. This is not about me all. This is about the team."

What happened on the INT?Herron: "Jake Ryan tipped the ball, and I was just looking up, and my legs just carried me. and I grabbed it, and then I just -- I remember Aubrey [Pleasant], our GA, he tells us, 'Any time you get an interception, run it back to your sideline.' So after I caught the ball, I just looked straight ahead --obviously no ball security whatsoever -- but I was just trying to get to the endzone."

Did it change the game?Herron: "Yes and no. It did change the game, but obviously you can have a score or you can run it in, and a lot of teams that lose a game ... so it was just a well-fought game that we just weren’t trying to give up. We were just trying to pound them, each and every play."

Did you feel like defense needed to make a play because of WMU's success earlier in the game? Herron: "Yeah, well this is our first time playing defense under coach Mattison. A real game, so it was a little shaky at first. We were struggling with the communication a little bit. We talk about poise and having that poise, so we just needed to sit down and just have that poise and just talk. We have to be able to communicate if we want to be a good defense."

Kovacs, how are you being used differently? Kovacs: "It’s a completely different scheme. I think we’ve got some more blitz packages that give me the opportunity to come down in the box and try and make a play."

How do you feel about blitz call, and can you describe your hit on Carder? Kovacs: "When you get the blitz call, you’re thinking, 'I gotta come hard and I gotta make a play.' I gotta give a lot of credit to the defnese. That was a defensive effort. I think the front did a great job of disguising it, and we had great coverage, and I just came clean and made a play."

How close do you feel to playing defense the way coaches want to play? Kovacs: "We’re getting there. It was shaky at first no doubt, but I think that this film will be pretty good to look at, so we can improve before next game."

Talk about how much more effective the defense was when you blitzed. Kovacs: "I think you gotta give a lot of credit to Western. I think they came out with a great scheme, but we kind of settled in, and we got some blitzes we hit home with, and I think Brandon’s play was a big gamechanger for us, so we did turn it around after a couple drives."

What was the reaction when game was ended? Herron: "Yeah, I wanted to continue to play. We still had a job to do."

Defense played better after lightning delay ... what did the coaches tell you?Kovacs: "I mean, we just kind of settled in I think. I don’t think that we did change too many things. I think we came out at halftime with a better scheme, and we just executed, and we played hard"

How did you spend that time during the delay?Kovacs: "It’s different. I’ve never been here during a game like that. Just kind of relaxing in the locker room, we just kept quiet and stayed focused, and we honed in."

Was it difficult to keep game mentality with start/stop? Kovacs: "I've never been through anything like that. I think we traveled up the tunnel several times. I’ve never done that before."

Hoke said he didn’t feel very good about D. What’s is his major concern? Kovacs: "I think we didn’t do a good job first few possessions. They were running the ball on us. We still have a lot of areas to improve in, and we’re going to do that with this film, and we’ll be ready by next week."

Did you do anything special for HC’s first victory?Kovacs: "We do what we do after every victory, and that’s singing 'The Victors.' "

Does this feel like any other win, or do you feel a little empty inside? Kovacs: "I mean, it’s different, but we’ll take it. It’s a win. A win is a win, and we’re happy with that.

Either of you on the kickoff team? Kovacs: "Both of us." Herron: "Obviously our kickoff needs to improve, which we’ll focus on that tomorrow or whatnot. We kind of let things get away from us a little bit."

Kovacs, have you ever hit a quarterback that hard?Kovacs: "That was my first one I guess. Herron: "It was loud, too."

How much of an emphasis is put on creating turnovers? Kovacs: "I think not only coach Mattison but coach Hoke emphasized that. That’s one of our team goals is to win the turnover battle because if you do that you’re likely going to win the game. That’s something we strive to do as every team does."

Did the mood change when Woolfolk went down? Kovacs: "We’ve got a lot of guys that can step up and play. It’s tough to see a guy like that go down again, but at the same time we knew somebody else was going to have an opportunity to step in and play. We have some experienced guys at corner."

Herron, how do you build off your performance today?Herron: "It’s just about taking one day at a time, with the involvement of my teammates. Like I said, we have to work together. This is not about an individual. This is about a team, and the team coming out here and practicing everyday and trying to get better, this is what it’s about."

When was the last time you scored a TD in organized football? Herron: "I’ve never scored a touchdown -- well, I take that back. It was probably in eighth grade when I was playing running back. Coach Jackson was not the coach." Tee hee. "It’s been a while since I’ve been in the endzone."

When you got INT, what did you see in front of you? Herron: "I saw the left tackle, then I thought he hit me, but after I got past him, I didn’t see anybody else."

What were you feeling at the 10-yard line? Herron: "Gassed."

In endzone? Herron: "Obviously my teammates jumped all over me, so that took everything out of me as well. But with the love and help of my teammates, that carried me back to the sideline."

Talk about your position switch during camp. Herron: "I was just playing my new position, the WILL and the dime. This is something I had been practicing all camp, so it was my new position."

During the fumble recovery -- did ball just come to you? Herron: "First of all, I want to thank Kovacs, but it was a call where we saw -- I can’t put it out there – but we made a check, and I ended up coming off the edge, and Kovacs got free. I don’t think the ball rolled my way. I think I went to go get the ball, and then just ran it into the endzone."

[Ed-M: emphasis mine. Eeeeeeee!]

Did you think about falling on it? Herron: "No. I just -- I don’t know. [It was] something that just happened in the moment, and [I] just picked it up and just took off."

Can you talk about anticipation of the night game next week?Herron: "I think the night game is going to be crazy. I think our fans are looking forward to next week, so with that being said, against Notre Dame, especially wearing our throwback jerseys, it’s going to be amazing next week."

What were the conditions like before the rain?Herron: "Oh, it was hot. I was drained coming off the kickoff and then having to go [play] defense. But having that camp, it mentally prepared us, and like Coach said, we’re going to have adversity. It just matters how you get through it."

Denard Robinson and Fitzgerald Toussaint

Denard and a guy who has more rushing yards than Denard.

Ever been through a game like that before? Denard: "No."

It looked like you wanted to stay out there before the second break. Denard: "We were ready to go. We were ready to keep playing, I mean, we get to play against somebody else! So we were ready to play."

What was your reaction to finding out you won the game? Denard: "When coach Hoke told us we won the game, everybody got quiet. It was like, 'Seriously?' Everybody wanted to play still."

How would you assess your performance? Denard: "I still got some learning to do, but I gotta do better. I thought I did all right."

How come there was so much shotgun and spread in the beginning? Denard: "Coach Al called all the plays, and I was ready. That’s all."

Fitz, talk about your emergence as starting RB. Toussaint: "I think it all started at the beginning of the week, we were still all competing, we still all need to work. We had to work on a couple things, and we had make sure everything was good with timing. We were just competing. I actually found out when I was taking more reps with the ones."

Can you describe the breakout run? Toussaint: "I was just running to daylight."

Any former michigan running backs get in touch with you to talk to you about the tradition or responsibility of your position? Toussaint: "No, sir."

Denard, what's it like handing off to Fitz? Denard: "I don’t want to juice his head too much. Fitz is probably one of the best running backs I’ve played with. When he gets the ball, he runs hard and he makes guys miss. He’s fast. He’s a good back."

What’s it mean for you to get two TD’s out of defense? Denard: "That felt good. I was kind of bored on the sideline. But I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. I’m pretty sure he felt the same way, we were ready to get back on the field, and when we saw B. Herron take it to the house we were like, 'Ahh' and we were rooting on the sidelines, but then it was like, 'man I want to get back on the field.'

"But we enjoyed it. We enjoyed it."

Does this feel incomplete not finishing the game? Denard: "Yeah it feels different. Everybody wanted to go back out and finish the game, but it is what it is."

How did you spend your time during the first delay? Denard: “We treated it like a halftime, and everybody was just getting focused and getting ready for the game.”

How many of old (spread) plays vs. new (manball) plays were there? Denard: “I thought it was 50/50. We did both, and I enjoyed it.”

Is that kind of balance what you expected? Denard: “I didn’t know what to expect. We were just excited and ready to play. Weve been working on all plays, so whatever they threw at us, we had to be ready.”

Fitz, you’ve been injured a whole lot. How does it feel to finish an entire game (sort of)?Toussaint: "It’s still a little new for me. It’s a new experience for me. I just want to stay healthy and continue to keeping pushing on with my teammates, and keep the unity."

So they really didn’t tell you you were starting until Friday? Toussaint: "I mean, I kind of had a clue, but it was announced [on Friday]."

Denard, talk about Alex Carder? Denard: "He’s a great quarterback. He’s probably one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. I enjoy watching him play."

You were the third leading rusher on the team today. Is that ideal? Denard: "Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I enjoy seeing [Fitz] running the ball, and Mike Shaw get the ball, and Vince. I love seeing those guys getting out in space and making people miss."

How do you feel about short gains vs. long runs? Toussaint: "We just chip away until we get a long one. Credit to the offensive line, who keep doing their job, and eventually it’ll come."

When do you start preparing for Notre Dame? Denard: "After tomorrow, we’ll watch film on the game, and get ready for Notre Dame."

You've had some fast starts in the past but then fell off toward the end of the season. Why is this year different? Denard: "I don’t want to compare last year to this year. This is a new era, and we just want to keep going and win for Michigan."

You've had some fast starts in past but then fell off toward the end of the season. Why is this year different? Denard: "I don’t want to compare last year to this year. This is a new era, and we just want to keep going and win for Michigan."

Can I say he's a walk-on safety who does things like makes a key read and audibles the defense at a pivotal moment of the game which causes the defense to get a clear shot on the quarterback which leads to a turnover and then a touchdown?

Make no mistake: if WMU comes down and scores instead of Kovac's audible creating that turnover, Western goes into the 2nd delay with a decent enough case to be made that the game shouldn't count.

None of this changes that he walked on. Neither does the fact that he walked on change the fact that he's a junior in his third year of starting, or that he has physical limitations that affect his play, or that he has mental faculties that make him one of those players every team wishes they had.

What did you think about the two TDs you scored? Herron: "For one, I want to thank God -- Jesus Christ my lord and savior -- and I also want to thank my team. This is a team effort, this is about a team, and I thank a lot of my teammates because we all work together as one. This is not about me all. This is about the team."

Sounds like Hoke's message is resonating, I can't wait to see the team improve as the season transpires, a welcome change from the past 3 years.

For everyone who was calling the ND game a loss, what do you think now? We gonna kick some Irish tail next week, IMO.

I'm sure this has nothing to do with the number change, but seeing a kid with his build and skill set making hits like that wearing the 90 really flashes back to the Bo era. Next thing you know, he'll have one of the old school neck collars. Teams better account for 90 from here in. He's a hammer.

That kid has a real future...played big up front, and did not look like a freshman out there. That was refreshing to see the front 7 play with authority. Not perfect, but a lot of confidence. I also liked how even though Carder connected on some passes, very rarely, if ever, did anyone look like they were completely out of position...something that happened frequently in the GERG era. I want to go back and watch the game again, thank you DVR, and watch for content instead of emotion...and a little less beer.

Maybe it might be easier for a non-offensive player to run with the ball along the sideline because if he's hit and loses the ball, it will likely be knocked out of bounds with him. It's tougher for a convoy to protect a guy running down the middle of the field too.

Definitely going to have to work on some coverage issues this week leading up to ND, and our DBs need to learn to line up right on the first possession of a game. But, can't argue too much when our defense outscores the other team by itself. Hopefully ND's woes and bad luck continue against us!

I hope they bring their A game. And I hope we bring ours. If we are better then we win.

Iron sharpens Iron gentlemen. We will be the best when we cut our teeth on the best. As long as you have the right system, coaches, and players in place....We can get there. But I look forward to playing these teams in the coming weeks and years.

I liked how the Defense actually made adjusments as the game went on. In the beginnning the DB's were giving a pretty big cushion, then after getting burned for 7-8 yards they started playing closer, and the LB's I thought were in better positions today. This year should be fun

What adjustment variables are the stats dudes going to add their equations to account for climate change?

Elephant in the stadium and no one says sheeiiit?

How that's leadership thing going "for the kids"?

Love the blue, the game, the hard work, the precision and speed of the neural processing, but I know it's silly, archaic, tribal DNA stuff, the hormonal drops, testosterone increases/decrease tied to winning and losing.

The parade has already been rained on, and it's only going to get worse.

Don't think our defense will have enough bullets for this one.

It's probably going to be some ugly manball ahead, for all of us . . .

It still isn't up on MGoBlue, and I really want to hear Denard's "That felt good. I was kind of bored on the sideline. But I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it." (I love when he repeats phrases.) And want to hear Fitz say anything, since it's probably his first press moment.